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Having won elections from his hometown constituency of Sialkot on four consecutive occasions — 1993, 1997, 2002 and 2008 — Khawaja Muhammad Asif is again running from a National Assembly seat for the region — NA-110 (Sialkot-I) — in the May 11 polls. He is moreover contesting from PP-123, a provincial assembly seat for Sialkot.

Enjoying strong support of his Kashmiri community in Sialkot — a region where biradari has always played a pivotal role, the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) firebrand leader has remained unbeaten in all elections since his return to Pakistan in 1991 after living in the UAE for many years.

Born in 1949, he has also been a Senator between 1991 and 1993. He was appointed chairman privatisation commission with the status of a federal minister during Nawaz Sharif’s 1997-1999 government.

The PML-N leader also faced court proceedings for allegedly having dual nationality. The charge was dropped by the Supreme Court after the accusation levelled against Asif was retracted.

In the run up to the 2013 election, objections were raised on the candidacy of the PML-N leader during scrutiny of his nomination papers. The objections alleged that Asif had failed to declare the actual worth of his assets. However, he was later cleared by the returning officer.